This invention relates to decorative structural members, including panels, such as stained glass windows, mosaic walls, and the like, and is more particularly concerned with a novel arrangement of glass beads such as marbles or similar spheroids arranged in a matrix or framework to provide an attractive visual effect. As the term is used here, a decorative structural panel would be understood to mean a marble wall, mosaic panel, or a sturdy member of the type suitable for use in construction or for ornamentation in architecture. An embodiment of the invention is more specifically directed to a curved marble wall or curved decorative structural panel, e.g., for use as a corner or as an S-profile wall, for example. According to other aspects, the curved member can have a more complex curved shape, and can be incorporated into a bowl, vase, lamp shade, or basket, for example.
Stained glass windows and walls are traditionally constructed of colored glass sections that are joined together to one another by lead strips. These stained glass constructions consume a large quantity of skilled labor and expensive colored glass to construct, and it is difficult to effect repairs if any of the glass breaks. Other panels, such as those constructed of transparent or translucent colored plastic, have to be constructed in large quantities to obtain manufacturing economies. Further, if these plastic panels are needed as structural architectural panels, e.g., for outdoor use or as part of a wall, they require significant modifications to make them sufficiently durable and rigid.
The term "structural panel" generally applies to building panels that are suitable for use as a component of a building structure, such as a wall formed of marbles. Structural panels and structural wall panels are designed to maintain their structural integrity in use as a building wall or similar structure, and to have rugged features such as ability to withstand wind and weather, cleaning, and handling. Decorative structural panels and architectural panels are intended to be used, for example, where a builder or building contractor would otherwise incorporate into the building a stained-glass window, sand-blasted plate glass, mosaic wall, or other architectural ornamentation. The panels should also be able to be installed like plate glass as a building wall or as a part of the building. The structural architectural panels of this invention can be made as custom architectural panels that are considerably less expensive than traditional stained glass, and can be considered as "contemporary stained glass windows."
A flat screen or panel of this general type, in which an array of colored marbles are sandwiched between front and back apertured grids, is described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,777, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
To date, no practical means have been proposed for constructing a marble wall or other similar transparent or translucent structural panel that is curved about some axis so as to have a finite radius of curvature. That is, no marble wall or the like has been constructed as a corner piece in which the shape curves gently around a corner. It is not possible simply to bend a flat marble wall into a cylindrical shape or a shape having a C- or S-shaped profile. Similarly, no complex curved shape has been accomplished using an array of marbles sandwiched between front and back apertured grids, such as a spherical shape (i.e., dome), or a conic shape.